Tom Heaton, the 38-year-old Manchester United goalkeeper, will join up with the rest of the England squad in Germany this week.
Heaton will not be able to play in the tournament. Instead, he will provide support to Jordan Pickford, Aaron Ramsdale and Dean Henderson, and help the goalkeeping coach Martyn Margetson.
Heaton, whose contract with United expires at the end of this month, is a well-respected member of Erik ten Hag’s squad. The former Burnley goalkeeper is a member of United’s senior leadership group and has experience of international football.
The former Burnley and Aston Villa goalkeeper earned his first call-up in 2015 and won the last of his three caps under Gareth Southgate two years later. He was also a member of the England squad for Euro 2016 and the 2019 Nations League Finals.
“I am really pleased Tom has agreed to join us in Germany,” Southgate said. “Experience tells us that a tournament can put a lot of demand on our goalkeeping group led by Martyn Margetson. Tom will play an invaluable role on the training pitch supporting Jordan, Aaron and Dean.
“Off the field as someone we all know well, he will add to the positive environment we are always looking to create. We are grateful to Manchester United for their support in making this happen.”
Harry Kane has said England’s belief that they can win the European Championship remains undimmed despite a turbulent build-up to the tournament.
The England captain described Friday’s alarming 1-0 defeat by Iceland as having the effect of a “nice wake-up call” and said confidence within Gareth Southgate’s squad would not be compromised.
England head to their Weimarer Land Golf Resort and Spa base in Germany on Monday, with Southgate planning an intensive week of training to address the shortcomings that were all too evident in the loss at Wembley.
Southgate was unhappy with his team’s application in the friendly defeat and is set to focus over the coming days on defensive drills in an attempt to brush up on the understanding among his back line before their opening group C game against Serbia on June 16. Yet Kane maintains that the problems should not discourage England from viewing themselves as one of the favourites for the tournament.
“Being so close in the last Euros, there is a real hunger to be back,” the striker said. “It comes around quick, if I’m honest. We had the World Cup and we are back here again.
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“I feel like we are on the right path. But as we all know as well, it is really difficult to win these tournaments. There are a lot of things that you have to do right and prepare right, and you need a bit of luck here and there. Every winner does. We have that mindset that we can achieve it. We also know there is a lot of hard work from now until the final in July.”
The manner of the disjointed performance against Iceland came after a difficult 48 hours in which the omissions of Jack Grealish and Harry Maguire from the final 26-man party left Southgate admitting new bonds needed to be forged within the group.
Provided that John Stones suffers no reaction to the ankle knock that resulted in him being substituted at half-time, he will take his place in England’s rearguard for the opening game alongside Kyle Walker, Kieran Trippier and probably Marc Guéhi.
Southgate will work on how they operate as a unit and cover each other in the hope the drills will make England more cohesive and provide the platform for them to fulfil their potential.
Kane said: “Sometimes you need this wake-up call. There are areas we need to improve, especially with our pressure. The group games are going to be very similar to this. We are going to have to defend well, especially the longer balls, and with the ball we need to be a bit more patient.
“We fell below our standards without the ball and that is something we have to review and get better with. It goes back to [the issue of being] without the ball that we need to improve. There probably was not enough hunger in the duels, in the second balls and winning those. They are a big, important part when you are playing these teams, to sustain the pressure and really suffocate them.
“We are going in there as one of the favourites and that is a responsibility that we have to take forward now, because we have earned the right to be there. We will never take it for granted. I have said many times to judge us on the tournament form, on the tournament football. Of course there will be some noise about [Iceland], but I think there is a lot of optimism from the fans and rightly so.
“Ultimately, it is down to us to make sure we get it right on the pitch. This could be a nice wake-up call for everyone to realise it is not going to be as easy as people think.”
Kane ended the season nursing a back injury with Bayern Munich, but runouts against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland have left him feeling “good” and ready to take strain once again. His last experience of a major tournament came with the World Cup quarter-final 2-1 defeat to France, in which he missed a penalty.
The memory was, he said, “pretty shit”, but does not weigh heavily on his psyche. “I don’t think so. I think in football you are going to have ups and downs on the way,” he added.
“Of course that was a down for me at the moment, but I think over two years, for club and for country, I have put that to bed and I am just excited for another major tournament.”
England’s Euro 2024 fixtures
Serbia v England
Sunday, June 16, kick-off 8pm
Veltins-Arena, Gelsenkirchen
Denmark v England
Thursday, June 20, 5pm
Deutsche Bank Park, Frankfurt
England v Slovenia
Tuesday, June 25, 8pm
Rhein Energie Stadium, Cologne
